High-performance FET device layout

ABSTRACT

A fast FET, a method and system for designing the fast FET and a design structure of the fast FET. The method includes: selecting a reference design for a field effect transistor, the field effect transistor including a source, a drain, a channel between the source and drain, a gate electrode over the channel, at least one source contact to the source and at least one contact to the drain, the at least one source contact spaced a first distance from the gate electrode and the at least one drain contact spaced a second distance from the gate electrode; and adjusting the first distance and the second distance to maximize a performance parameter of the field effect transistor to create a fast design for the field effect transistor.

This Application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/550,818, filed Oct. 19, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of field effect transistors(FET); more specifically, it relates to an FET having a gate tosource/drain spacing optimized for improved FET performance, a methodand system for determining the gate to source/drain spacing foroptimizing the performance of the FET, and a design structure for an FEThaving a gate to source/drain spacing optimized for improved FETperformance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A most important issue for the semiconductor industry is integratedcircuit performance scalability. Scalability is the tracking ofperformance with decreased transistor size. In general, scalability isadversely affected by the non-scalability of complementarymetal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) device technology groundrules below about 250nm and the non-scalability of process tolerances. Without some techniqueto overcome CMOS scalability, the trend of decreasing technologygroundrules to increase performance cannot be sustained. Therefore,there is a need for a methodology to overcome the scalability issues ofCMOS technology.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first aspect of the present invention is a method, comprising:selecting a reference design for a field effect transistor, the fieldeffect transistor including a source, a drain, a channel between thesource and drain, a gate electrode over the channel, one or more sourcecontacts to the source and one or more drain contacts to the drain, eachof the one or more source contacts spaced a first distance from the gateelectrode and each of the one or more drain contacts spaced a seconddistance from the gate electrode; and adjusting the first distance andthe second distance to maximize a performance parameter of the fieldeffect transistor to create a fast design for the field effecttransistor.

A second aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, whereinthe performance parameter is a power cut-off frequency of the fieldeffect transistor.

A third aspect of the present invention is the first aspect furtherincluding: limiting an amount of the adjusting the first and seconddistances to prevent a current cut-off frequency of the field effecttransistor from being less than a predetermined value.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect of thepresent invention, wherein said performance parameter is a currentcut-off frequency of said field effect transistor.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, wherein adistance between the source and drain defines a channel length,extending in a lengthwise direction, of the field effect transistor, thefirst and second distances extending along the lengthwise direction.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, wherein theadjusting the first and second distances comprises increasing only thefirst distance, increasing only the second distance or increasing boththe first and second distances.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, furtherincluding: limiting an amount of the adjusting the first and seconddistances to prevent a total area of the field effect transistor fromexceeding a pre-determined limit.

An eighth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect furtherincluding: simulating a first circuit capable of oscillation, the firstcircuit including at least one field effect transistor having the fastdesign; measuring a simulated first oscillation rate of the firstcircuit; comparing the first oscillation rate to a predeterminedoscillation rate; and adjusting a device geometry, other than the firstand second distances, of the reference design and repeating theadjusting the first distance and the second distance if the firstoscillation rate is less than the predetermined oscillation rate.

A ninth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, furtherincluding: simulating a first circuit capable of oscillation, the firstcircuit including at least one field effect transistor having the fastdesign; measuring a simulated first oscillation rate of the firstcircuit; simulating a second circuit capable of oscillation, the secondcircuit including at least one field effect transistor having thereference design; measuring a simulated second oscillation rate of thesecond circuit; comparing the first and second oscillation rates; andadjusting a device geometry, other than the first and second distances,of the reference design and repeating the adjusting the first distanceand the second distance if the first oscillation rate is less than thesecond oscillation rate.

A tenth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, furtherincluding: designing the field effect transistor.

An eleventh aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, whereinthe source comprises multiple source regions, the drain comprisesmultiple drain regions, the channel comprises multiple channel regionsbetween respective pairs of the source and drain regions, the gateelectrode comprising a spine and multiple fingers extending from thespine, the fingers over respective channel regions, and at least onesource contact of the one or more source contacts in each source regionand at least one drain contact of the one or more drain contacts in eachdrain region.

A twelfth aspect of the present invention is the tenth aspect, whereineach of the at least one source contact of the one or more sourcecontacts is equally spaced between adjacent fingers of the multiplefingers and wherein each of the at least one drain contact of the one ormore drain contacts is equally spaced between adjacent fingers of themultiple fingers.

A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect,wherein the reference design is for a field effect transistor to befabricated on a silicon-on-insulator substrate.

A fourteenth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect,further including: generating a set of pairs of incremented first andsecond distances from the first and second distances; generating a setof power cut-off frequencies corresponding to the pairs of incrementedfirst and second distances; and selecting a pair of incremented firstand second distances corresponding to a maximum power cut-off frequencyof the set of power cut-off frequencies, the adjusting the firstdistance and the second distance comprising substituting the pair ofincremented first and second distances for the first and seconddistances.

A fifteenth aspect of the present invention is a design structureembodied in a machine readable medium used in a design process, thedesign structure comprising: a fast field effect transistor, comprisinga source, a drain, a channel between the source and drain, a gateelectrode over the channel, one or more source contacts to the sourceand one or more drain contacts to the drain, each of the one or moresource contacts spaced a first distance from the gate electrode and eachof the one or more drain contacts spaced a second distance from the gateelectrode; and wherein the first and second distances, and a powercut-off frequency of the fast field effect transistor are greater thanrespective first and second distances and a power cut-off frequency ofan otherwise identical reference field effect transistor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, will be best understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a top view and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view through line1B-1B of FIG. 1A of an exemplary reference FET layout not optimized forperformance according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an exemplary FETillustrating the parasitic capacitances;

FIG. 3 is a top view of an exemplary fast FET layout having a gate tosource/drain contact spacings optimized for performance according toembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of an exemplary fast multi-finger FEThaving a gate to source/drain contact spacings optimized for performanceaccording to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of method for optimizing the performance of an FETaccording to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the method step 220 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary plot of the current cut-off frequency and thepower cut-off frequency versus gate pitch ratios of simulated FETs withincreased gate pitch divided according to embodiments of the presentinvention by a simulated reference FET having a reference gate pitch;

FIG. 8 is a plot of average Fmax versus gate voltage for actual FETshaving different designed gate pitches;

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of an exemplary ring oscillator;

FIG. 10 is a simulation plot of ring oscillator delay versus gate tosource/drain contact capacitance;

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a general-purpose computer forpracticing the embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a design of a process used in semiconductordesign, manufacturing, and/or test.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1A is a top view and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view through line1B-1B of FIG. 1A of an exemplary reference FET layout not optimized forperformance according to embodiments of the present invention. In FIG.1A, a device 100 includes sources 105 and drains 110 and gate electrodes115 on opposite sides of the source/drains. Device 100 comprises threereference transistors T1, T2 and T3 with transistors T1 and T2 sharing acommon drain and transistors T2 and T3 sharing a common source.Transistor T1, T2 and T3 may be N-channel field effect transistors(FETs) or NFETs or P-channel FETs or PFETs. Each of transistors T1, T2and T3 have a channel width W in a widthwise direction and a channellength L in a lengthwise direction, the widthwise and lengthwisedirections being perpendicular. The extent of L depends upon how farsources 105 and drains 110 extend under gate electrodes 115.

A set of source/drain contacts 120 are formed over sources 105 anddrains 110. Device 100 is surrounded by a shallow trench isolation (STI)125. Gate electrodes 115 are spaced apart in the lengthwise direction ona pitch PCp0 and contacts 120 are spaced apart in the lengthwisedirection on a pitch CAp0. Contacts 120 to sources 105 are spaced in thelengthwise direction a distance Ds0 from gate electrodes 115 andcontacts 120 to drains 110 are spaced in the lengthwise direction adistance Dd0 from gate electrodes 115. In one example Dd0 and Ds0 areequal. Gate electrodes 115 have a dimension Wpc in the lengthwisedirection and contacts 120 have a dimension Wca in the lengthwisedirection. If Wpc and Wca are held constant, then Ds0, Dd0 and (Ds0+Dd0)are a function of CAp0 and a function of PCp0.

In FIG. 1B, it can be further seen that gate electrodes 115 are formedon top of a gate dielectric 130 and that sources 105 and drains 110 areseparated by a channel region 135 under gate electrodes 115. Sources105, drains 110 and channels 135 are formed in a silicon layer 140(along with STI 125), which is formed on top of a buried oxide layer(BOX) 145, which is formed on top of a silicon substrate 150. Asilicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate 155 is therefore comprised ofsilicon layer 140, BOX 145 and substrate 150. In one example, siliconlayer 140 is single crystal-silicon. Gate electrodes 115 and contacts120 are embedded in a dielectric layer 160 formed on top of siliconlayer 140. In one example, gate electrodes 115 comprise doped or undopedpolysilicon and contacts 120 comprise tungsten or other metals.

Returning to FIG. 1A, current FET design practice minimizes CAp0 andPCp0 and thus Ds0 and Dd0 in an effort to decrease the size and increasethe performance of transistors T1, T2 and T3. By performance we mean thetwo operating frequencies described infra. However, minimizing CAp0 andPCp0 does not necessarily increase the operating frequencies, norincrease the operating frequencies as much as the methods of the presentinvention, because of gate to source/drain capacitance as describedinfra. Furthermore, the current design practice of minimizing CAp0 andPCp0 and thus Ds0 and Dd0 may actually reduce the maximum operatingfrequencies of the transistors.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an exemplary FETillustrating the parasitic capacitances. In FIG. 2, three capacitancesexist, the intrinsic gate capacitance Ca and the parasitic capacitancesCb and Cc. Ca is the capacitance between the gate electrode and thechannel region of the FET. There may also be components (gate overlapcapacitances) of Ca between the gate electrode and the source and drainwhen the gate overlaps the source/drains. Cb is the capacitance betweenthe source and the silicon substrate and the drain and siliconsubstrate. Cc is the capacitance between the gate and the contacts tothe source and to the drain and is a function of the source contact togate electrode spacing Ds and the drain contact to gate electrodespacing Dd.

Because of the thickness of the BOX, Cb is so small as to have nosignificant effect on operating frequency and Ca is a constant for agiven gate dielectric thickness, gate geometry and gate dielectricmaterial. The embodiments of the present invention are directed to fastFETs having reduced values of Cc by increasing the values of Ds and Ddin the fast FETs (see FIG. 3 and description infra) compared to areference FET such as described in FIGS. 1A and 1B and described supra.

FIG. 3 is a top view of an exemplary fast FET layout having a gate tosource/drain contact spacings optimized for performance according toembodiments of the present invention described infra. In FIG. 3, a fastdevice 100A is similar to the reference device 100 of FIG. 1A except thecontact pitch CAp1 is greater than CAp0 of FIG. 1A, the gate electrodepitch PCp1 is greater than PCp0 of FIG. 1A, the source contact to gateelectrode spacing Ds1 is greater than Ds0 of FIG. 1A and the draincontact to gate electrode spacing Dd1 is greater than Dd0 of FIG. 1A.Also transistors T1, T2 and T3 of FIG. 1A are replaced by fasttransistors T4, T5 and T6 respectively. The only difference betweentransistors T1/T2/T3 and transistors T4/T5/T6 are the contact to gatespacings (Dsx and Ddx, where x=0 or 1); all other transistor physicalparameters (i.e. doping levels, materials, thicknesses, etc) are thesame.

The embodiments of the present invention are applicable to multi-fingerFETs. FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of an exemplary fast multi-fingerFET having a gate to source/drain contact spacings optimized forperformance according to embodiments of the present invention describedinfra. In FIG. 4, an FET 165 includes multiple source regions 170A andmultiple drain regions 170B. Source and drain regions 170A and 170B aresurrounded by STI 180. FET 165 also includes a gate electrode 185. Gate185 includes multiple fingers 190A and multiple fingers 190B integrallyconnected to a spine 190C. Spine 190C is over STI 180. A multiplicity ofsource contacts 195A are provided to sources 170A and a multiplicity ofdrain contacts 195B are provided to drains 170B. There are also contacts195C to gate electrode 185.

Source contacts 195A are spaced a distance Ds from fingers 190A anddrain contacts 195B are spaced a distance Dd from fingers 190B.Distances Ds and Dd are selected for increased performance of fast FET165 according to embodiments of the present invention described infra.

Therefore, based on FIGS. 1A, 1B, 3 and 4 and the descriptions thereofsupra, a fast FET is defined as an FET having a source/drain contact togate electrode spacing greater than the source/drain contact to gateelectrode spacing of a reference FET, holding all other physical designparameters of the fast FET (except overall size of the fast FET) tovalues of the reference FET.

The performance of an FET may be measured by the two operatingfrequencies, (1) the current cut-off frequency (Ft) and (2) the powercut-off frequency (Fmax). Fmax is defined herein and in the claims asthe maximum frequency of an FET beyond which power gain of the FET dropsbelow unity. At frequencies higher than Fmax, an oscillator utilizingthat FET will no longer oscillate. Ft is defined herein and in theclaims as the maximum frequency of an FET beyond which the current gainof the FET drops below unity. The Fmax and Ft of fast FETs T4/T5/T6 ofFIG. 3 can be determined from known parameters of reference FETsT1/T2/T3 of FIG. 1A and T4/T5/T6 as defined by the equations (1) through(5). Equations (1) through (5) are used in the algorithm illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5 and described infra. Term C1 of equations (1), (2) and (4)is the summation of the capacitors Ca and Cc of FIG. 2 for a fast FET.

$\begin{matrix}{{F\;\max} \approx \sqrt{\frac{F\; t}{2\pi\; R\;{g\left( {C\; 1} \right)}}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

where:

-   -   Ft is defined by equation (2)    -   Rg is defined by equation (5); and    -   C1 is defined by equation (4).

$\begin{matrix}{{F\; t} = \frac{g\; m\; 1}{2\pi\; C\; 1}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

where:

-   -   gm1 is defined by equation (3); and    -   C1 is defined by equation (4).        gm1=gm0+Δgm[1−e ^((D0−D1))]  (3)

where:

-   -   D0 is the contact to gate electrode spacing of a reference FET        having a known source contact to gate electrode spacing Ds0 and        a known drain contact to gate electrode spacing Dd0 and where        Ds0=Dd0=D0;    -   D1 is the contact to gate electrode spacing of a fast FET having        a known source contact to gate electrode spacing Ds1 and a known        drain contact to gate electrode spacing Dd1 and where        Ds1=Dd1=D1;    -   gm0 is the transconductance of the reference FET having the        contact to gate electrode spacing Ds=Dd=D0 (gm can be measured        using the formula gm=Iout/Vin); and    -   Δgm=gm1−gm and is the maximum difference in gm between the        reference FET and the fast FET and is empirically determined.

$\begin{matrix}{{C\; 1} = {{C\; a} + \frac{C\; 0}{\left( {D\;{1/D}\; 0} \right)}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

where:

-   -   Ca is the intrinsic gate capacitance;    -   C0 is the known capacitance between the source contact and the        gate electrode (Cd) or between the drain contact and the gate        electrode (Cs), with Cd=Cs; and    -   D0 and D1 are as defined for equation (3).        Rg=Rg0+ΔRwire(D1−D0)  (5)

where:

-   -   Rg0 is the known gate electrode resistance of the reference FET;    -   ΔRwire is the resistance per length of an additional (e.g.        metal) wire required to wire up the gate electrode to a circuit        node; and    -   D0 and D1 are as defined for equation (3).

The term ΔRwire (D1-D0) of equation (5) takes into consideration, thatsince the fast FET is larger than the reference FET that it wouldreplace in a circuit, that the wire from a node in that circuit to thegate electrode will be longer. The ΔRwire (D1−D0) of equation (5) may bereplaced by other terms as circuit layouts warrant or may be left outentirely.

It should be understood, that equations (1) trough (5) are specific tothe case where Dd0=Ds0 and Dd1 Ds1 (the fast FET and the reference FETare symmetrical). When Dd0≠Ds0 and Dd1≠Ds1, equations similar toequations (1) though (5) may be developed and used in the algorithmillustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 and described infra.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of method for optimizing the performance of an FETaccording to embodiments of the present invention. In step 200, a devicefamily and a reference device is selected from a technology database205. Technology database includes device design geometry rules andparametric operating ranges by device family. Device families include(1) NFET or PFET, (2) thick or thin gate dielectric FETs and (3) high orlow threshold voltage FETs and combinations thereof to give a fewexamples. Device design geometry rules include, for example, minimum andmaximum line widths and spacings, examples of which include minimumchannel length, minimum gate electrode pitch, minimum source/draincontact pitch and minimum source/drain contact to gate electrodespacing. Device design specifications include, for example, power supplyvoltages (i.e. Vdd and Vss), Fmax, Ft, gm and power consumption. Instep, 210 a family of Fmax₁ to Fmax_(n) and Ft₁ to Ft_(n) values arecalculated based on a set of source/drain contact to gate electrodespacing values (Ds1 ₁ to Ds1 _(n) and Dd1 ₁ to Dd1 _(n)) using thevalues of Ds0, Dd0, gm0, Δgm, Rg0 and ΔRwire from the reference deviceand equations (1) through (5) in the case Ds0=Dd0 and Ds1 ₁=Dd1 ₁=D1 ₁through Ds1 _(n)=Dd1 ₁=D1 _(n) or variants of equations (1) through (5)thereof in the case Ds1 ₁≠Dd1 ₁ through Ds1 _(n)≠Ds1 _(n). A referencedevice may be an actual pre-designed device or a simulated device. Thevalues of Ds1 ₁ to Ds1 _(n) and Dd1 ₁ to Dd1 _(n) and Fmax₁ to Fmax_(n)and Ft₁ to Ft_(n) may be stored in a lookup table or content addressableregister.

The following steps assume a symmetrical FET where Ds0=Dd0 and Ds1 ₁=Dd1₁=D1 ₁ through Ds1 _(n)=Dd1 _(n)=D1 _(n). In the case where the FET isnot symmetrical and Ds1 ₁≠Dd1 ₁ through Ds1 _(n)≠Ds1 _(n) then Ds1_(cur) and Dd1 _(cur) should be substituted for the term D1 _(cur).

In step 220, the source/drain contact to gate electrode spacing thatresults in a fast FET having a desired performance is selected. In step225, the fast FET is verified to see if it meets device designspecifications and circuit design specifications (from a circuit designspecification database 230). The circuit selected may be a ringoscillator circuit as illustrated in FIG. 9 and described infra, oranother circuit sensitive to FET performance. Verification is performedusing simulation programs acting on a simulated circuit containing fastFETs. Additionally, in step 235, simulation programs acting on simulatedcircuits containing reference FETs may be performed and the maximumoscillation frequencies of the two simulated circuits compared. Thesimulated circuits selected may be ring oscillator circuits asillustrated in FIG. 9 and described infra, or other circuits that aresensitive to FET performance. If in step 235, the fast FET is verified(the simulation results are acceptable) or the circuit having the fastFET is significantly faster than the circuit having the reference FET,the design of the fast FET is complete, otherwise the method proceeds tostep 240.

In step 240, the device design geometry of the reference FET is adjustedbased on device design geometry rules or a new reference FET with adifferent design geometry is selected and the method returns to step210. Examples of device design geometry adjustments include a change inFET channel width and FET channel length. Examples of different devicedesign reference FET geometries include different FET channel widths,FET channel lengths and different numbers of gate electrode fingers.Provision is allowed for an exit from the method (error) if possiblegeometry adjustments are exhausted or a predetermined number of attemptsat adjustments has been reached.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the method step 220 of FIG. 5. In step 245, themaximum Fmax (Fmax_(max)) is selected from the calculated Fmax₁ toFmax_(n) values and the corresponding source/drain contact to gateelectrode spacing D1 _(max) determined. Fmax_(cur) is assigned the valueof Fmax_(max) and D1 _(cur) is assigned the value of D1 _(max). In step250, it is determined if the value of D1 _(cur) is below a minimumsource/drain contact to gate electrode spacing allowed. Step 250 allowsincreasing source/drain contact to gate electrode spacing for otherreasons besides speed, for example, current crowding. If D1 _(cur) isnot below the minimum source/drain contact to gate electrode spacingvalue then the method proceeds to step 255, otherwise the methodproceeds to step 260.

In step 255 it is determined if the value of D1 _(cur) is above amaximum source/drain contact to gate electrode spacing allowed. Step 255allows decreasing source/drain contact to gate electrode spacing inorder not to increase the area of the fast FET beyond a predeterminedarea. If D1 _(cur) is not above the maximum source/drain contact to gateelectrode spacing value then the method proceeds to step 265, otherwisethe method proceeds to step 270.

In step 265 it is determined if the value of Ft corresponding to D1_(cur) is below a minimum value for Ft allowed. Step 265 is optional. IfFt is not below the minimum value for Ft the selection of a value for D1_(cur) is complete, otherwise the method proceeds to step 275. One canchoose to simply maximize Fmax and ignore the corresponding value of Ft.

Returning to steps 260 and 270, in step 260 the value of D1 _(cur) isincremented and the method proceeds to step 280 or in step 270 value ofD1 _(cur) is decremented and the method proceeds to step 280. The amountof incrementing or decrementing is fixed to track with the granularityof the D1 ₁ to D1 _(n). Steps 260 and 270 also track the previous valuesof D1cur and determine if values have already been used, in which casean error is generated indicating the method cannot proceed.

In step 280 the value of Fmax corresponding to D1 _(cur) is determined,Fmax_(cur) is assigned this value and the method returns to step 250.

Returning to step 275, in step 275 the value of Fmax corresponding to aminimum value of Ft is determined and Fmax_(cur) is assigned this valueof Fmax, and D1 _(cur) is assigned the value of D1 ₁ through D1 _(n)corresponding the Fmax_(cur) and the method returns to step 250.

Alternatively, the method can be restructured to maximize Ft and keepFmax within pre-determined limits.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary plot of the current cut-off frequency and thepower cut-off frequency versus gate pitch ratios of simulated FETs withincreased gate pitch divided according to embodiments of the presentinvention by a simulated reference FET having a reference gate pitch.Other than the gate-electrode pitch varying all other FET designparameters are held constant. In FIG. 7, Ft is indicated by curve 300,the maximum value of Ft is indicated by point 305, Fmax is indicated bycurve 310, and the maximum value of Fmax is indicated by point 315. Thehorizontal axis is gate electrode pitch ratio (fast FET/reference FET).As discussed supra, the source/drain contact to gate electrode spacingis related to gate electrode pitch. In some cases, the FET design rulesare framed in terms of source/drain contact pitch and gate electrodepitch with the source/drain contacts being equidistant between adjacentgates over the same well (a symmetrical FET) and this is a more usefulnumber to report out of the algorithm than the actual source/draincontact to gate electrode spacing. In FIG. 7, it can be seen that themaximum value of Fmax occurs at a gate pitch ratio of about 2 and themaximum value of Ft occurs at a gate pitch ratio of about 2.25. Thus thelarger (the greater the gate electrode pitch the larger the device)device (the fast FET, pitch=about 2) is faster than the smaller device(reference device pitch=1), which is contrary to conventional designmethodology, where the fast FET would be designed to be smaller than thereference FET.

FIG. 8 is a plot of average Fmax versus gate voltage for actual FETshaving different designed gate pitches. In FIG. 8, curve 320 representsVg versus Ft for a gate electrode pitch of about 0.25 microns, whilecurve 325 represents Vg versus Ft for a gate electrode pitch of about0.5 microns. Again, the larger FET is faster, holding all otherparameters other than pitch constant.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of an exemplary ring oscillator. In FIG. 9,a ring oscillator 330 includes three inverter stages 335, 340 and 345comprising respectively NFET N1 and PFET P1, NFET N2 and PFET P2, andNFET N3 and PFET P3. The input of ring oscillator 330 is connected tothe input of first stage 335. The output of first stage 335 is connectedto the input of second stage 340. The output of second stage 340 isconnected to the input of third stage 345. The output of third stage 345is connected to the output of the ring oscillator and to the input ofthe first stage. Ring oscillator 330 is exemplary of ring oscillators ingeneral in that there must be an odd number of inverter stages.

FIG. 10 is a simulation plot of ring oscillator delay versus gate tosource/drain contact capacitance. Curve 350 represents a plot of gate tocontact capacitance (Cc of FIG. 2 or C0D0/D (see equation (4)). FIG. 10shows that by decreasing the source/drain contact to gate electrodecapacitance the delay through the oscillator decreases and the speed ofthe oscillator increases. Since the embodiments of the present inventionteach increasing the source/drain contact to gate electrode spacing ofan FET increase the switching speed of an FET relative to a referenceFET, it follows that circuits utilizing an FET having a greatersource/drain contact to gate electrode spacing would be faster than acircuit having an FET having a reference a source/drain contact to gateelectrode spacing.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a general-purpose computer forpracticing the embodiments of the present invention. In FIG. 11,computer system 400 has at least one microprocessor or centralprocessing unit (CPU) 405. CPU 405 is interconnected via a system bus410 to a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device 415 and a read-onlymemory (ROM) device 420, an input/output (I/O) adapter 425 forconnecting a removable data and/or program storage device 430 and a massdata and/or program storage device 435, a user interface adapter 440 forconnecting a keyboard 445 and a mouse 450, a port adapter 455 forconnecting a data port 460 and a display adapter 465 for connecting adisplay device 470.

Either of devices 415 and 420 contains the basic operating system forcomputer system 400. Removable data and/or program storage device 430may be a magnetic media such as a floppy drive, a tape drive or aremovable hard disk drive or optical media such as CD ROM or a digitalvideo disc (DVD) or solid state memory such as ROM or DRAM or flashmemory. Mass data and/or program storage device 435 may be a hard diskdrive or an optical drive. In addition to keyboard 445 and mouse 450,other user input devices such as trackballs, writing tablets, pressurepads, microphones, light pens and position-sensing screen displays maybe connected to user interface 440. Examples of display devices includecathode-ray tubes (CRT) and liquid crystal displays (LCD).

One of devices 415, 420, 430 or 435 includes a computer code 475(illustrated by way of example in device 415), which is a computerprogram that comprises computer-executable instructions. Computer code475 includes an algorithm optimizing the performance of an FET (e.g. thealgorithm of FIGS. 5 and 6). CPU 405 executes computer code 475. Any ofdevices 415, 420, 430 or 435 may include input data 480 (illustrated byway of example in device 435) required by computer code 475. Displaydevice 470 displays output from computer code 475.

Any or all of devices 415, 420, 430 and 435 (or one or more additionalmemory devices not shown in FIG. 11) may be used as a computer usablemedium (or a computer readable medium or a program storage device)having a computer readable program embodied therein and/or having otherdata stored therein, wherein the computer readable program comprisescomputer code 475. Generally, a computer program product (or,alternatively, an article of manufacture) of the computer system 400 maycomprise the computer usable medium (or the program storage device).

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a design of a process used in semiconductordesign, manufacturing, and/or test. In FIG. 12, a design flow 500 mayvary depending on the type of IC being designed. For example, a designflow 500 for building an application specific IC (ASIC) may differ froma design flow 500 for designing a standard component. Design structure520 is preferably an input to a design process 510 and may come from anIP provider, a core developer, or other design company or may begenerated by the operator of the design flow, or from other sources.Design structure 520 comprises device 100 or device 100A or device 165in the form of schematics or HDL, a hardware-description language (e.g.,Verilog, VHDL, C, etc.). Design structure 520 may be contained on one ormore machine readable medium. For example, design structure 520 may be atext file or a graphical representation of device 100 or device 100A ordevice 165. Design process 510 preferably synthesizes (or translates)device 100 or device 100A or device 165 into a netlist 580, wherenetlist 580 is, for example, a list of wires, transistors, logic gates,control circuits, I/O, models, etc. that describes the connections toother elements and circuits in an integrated circuit design and recordedon at least one of machine readable medium. This may be an iterativeprocess in which netlist 580 is re-synthesized one or more timesdepending on design specifications and parameters for the circuit.

Design process 510 may include using a variety of inputs; for example,inputs from library elements 530 which may house a set of commonly usedelements, circuits, and devices, including models, layouts, and symbolicrepresentations, for a given manufacturing technology (e.g., differenttechnology nodes, 32 nm, 45 nm, 50 nm, etc.), design specifications 540,characterization data 550, verification data 560, design rules 570, andtest data files 585 (which may include test patterns and other testinginformation). Design process 510 may further include, for example,standard circuit design processes such as timing analysis, verification,design rule checking, place and route operations, etc. One of ordinaryskill in the art of integrated circuit design can appreciate the extentof possible electronic design automation tools and applications used indesign process 510 without deviating from the scope and spirit of theinvention. The design structure of the invention is not limited to anyspecific design flow.

Ultimately, design process 510 preferably translates device 100 ordevice 100A or device 165, along with the rest of the integrated circuitdesign (if applicable), into a final design structure 550 (e.g.,information stored in a GDS storage medium). Final design structure 550may comprise information such as, for example, test data files, designcontent files, manufacturing data, layout parameters, wires, levels ofmetal, vias, shapes, test data, data for routing through themanufacturing line, and any other data required by a semiconductormanufacturer to produce device 100 or device 100A or device 165. Finaldesign structure 550 may then proceed to a stage 555 where, for example,final design structure 550: proceeds to tape-out, is released tomanufacturing, is sent to another design house or is sent back to thecustomer.

Thus the present invention discloses a process for supporting computerinfrastructure, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and deployingcomputer-readable code into the computer system 400, wherein the code incombination with the computer system 400 is capable of performing amethod for optimizing the performance of an FET.

Thus the embodiments of the present invention provide a methodology toovercome the scalability issues of CMOS technology. Specificapplications of the present invention include, but are not limited toradio frequency and millimeter-wave, digital circuits and analogcircuits using CMOS devices.

The description of the embodiments of the present invention is givenabove for the understanding of the present invention. It will beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the particularembodiments described herein, but is capable of various modifications,rearrangements and substitutions as will now become apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.Therefore, it is intended that the following claims cover all suchmodifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope ofthe invention.

1. A design structure comprising design data embodied on a computerreadable storage medium, said design data being useable for designing,manufacturing, and/or testing an integrated circuit, said design datadescribing that a fast field effect transistor comprises: a source, adrain, a channel between said source and drain, a gate electrode oversaid channel, one or more source contacts to said source and one or moredrain contacts to said drain, each of said one or more source contactsspaced a first distance from said gate electrode and each of said one ormore drain contacts spaced a second distance from said gate electrode;and wherein said first and second distances, and a power cut-offfrequency of said fast field effect transistor are greater thanrespective first and second distances and a power cut-off frequency ofan otherwise identical reference field effect transistor; wherein saiddesign data comprises a netlist, which describes the fast field effecttransistor.